Mike Clowney Opening Statement: We've been on the road last week, and we were able to get a good win. Being able to come back home, I think, is just kind of always a treat. With that game being as enthusiastic and exciting as it was, my thought first thing this morning was that it'd be great to have that same type of energy here at our place on Saturday. So, I know our guys are looking forward to getting back on the field and continuing to work to try to find ways to continue to get better.
Q1: Jerry Odom's teams always do a phenomenal job of turning people over, and that's no different this year. They're the league leaders in interceptions. What do you have to do to take care of ball against the Pioneers?
Jerry does a good job, and they always do a good job on defense. They've always got athletic kids that can run, and that's no different this year. The big thing for us is just to continue to be smart with the football, number one. We've got to make good decisions and be aggressive up front. We need to make sure that we work on having good hard runs, and then still make sure that we secure the ball. That was a big issue with us going over there last year, so that's something I think that's still kind of going to be at the front of our minds in a sense. We know that we have to be able to take care of the ball to win the game.
Q2: For Tusculum defensively, they've got the top tackler in the South Atlantic Conference in Wesley Scott. What sticks out to you about him and his skill set?
He's just super disruptive. He plays very disruptive, he runs well, and he's a really sure tackler. So, we've got to make sure that we can do a good job of trying to get a hat on him and get him sealed. We need to stay on him and not let him just kind of be free and run around making plays.
Q3: From the win over Newberry, obviously the fourth quarter is probably as good as it gets in terms of complimentary football, but you had to rally to get there. What are the areas for improvement after a big win over the Wolves?
It's always better to make corrections after you win a game. Sometimes that's where we talk to our kids about being able to handle success because even though we had some success and won the game, we still made a lot of mistakes. There were a lot of glaring mistakes when you go back and watch that game on film, so that's the thing that we challenged our guys with yesterday is continuing to keep that spirit and continuing to keep that energy. We have to continue to work and develop the skill sets at every position in order to continue to accomplish the things that we want to accomplish.
Q4: Jaylen Myers has done something that only four other quarterbacks since 1980 have done for Carson-Newman football, and that's completed 15 passes in a game. I don't know that that's a fair comparison to make to years past because this is also the first time in the last 42 years Carson-Newman has rushed the ball fewer than 30 times in back-to-back games. What is a fair assessment of the offense and of the passing game of Myers, given that as a program, we really don't have a reference point for what this is?
I think the biggest reference point is when you go back to that relationship and question, did he distribute the ball the way that he needed to and the way that we're asking him to? A lot of times, we run an option, and those grades are so important because you want the quarterbacks to be able to make a read to get the ball to the right guy. I think that's one thing that Jaylen did do well was distribute the football. He took the things that were there, and he shared it with several different people. There's still some reads stuff that he has to do in the run game. I thought for the most part, he handled that adequately, and we just look forward to him continuing his growth and development as a quarterback. I think one thing that you always want to have is a more balanced offense. I think that gives us a chance to be able to continue to do that down the road because I don't think we want to, at any point, vacate the run game. We still have to be better at running the football, but we need to be more adequate at passing, and I think it's something that's super critical to our growth and development as a program.
Q5: Cade Meeks had a quiet couple of weeks. He was noisy in the opener, and he was quite noisy against Newberry. I don't want to say he disappeared because he really didn't, but he showed up in a big way against the Wolves. Just how much is that owed to his patience that it would come?
We talked about in the pregame show, what was the position where we had someone that really needed to step up? That position was wideout for us, and we talked about losing Braxton. There are a lot of yards and catches out there to be made, and we need someone to be able to step up and make it. He's the leading returner that we had, so we felt like it'd be adequate for him to be able to do that, but to be able to get the ball into his hands and him makes plays is something that we have to continue work to be able to do.
Q6: This is hypothetical. If you were celebrating your birthday on Wednesday, what's your ideal situation as you go into the last year of a particular decade?
I just want to come in and have a day with no problems that runs smoothly. Everyone shows up on time and does what we need to do to have a great day of practice. Then, I'd go home, and my wife would let me go to bed early. That's what happens when you get old.
Q7: You look at Tusculum offensively, and they're pretty balanced. They have done some nice things in spots, and the run game seems to be knocking people back. They don't give up a ton of tackles for loss. How do you get penetration against a pretty good line?
I think we've got to get off the ball. That was something evident when we watched film over time. As the ball snaps, we've got to get off the ball. We've got to be the first guy that gets across the line. We've got to initiate contact to where we can work to change the line of scrimmage.
Q8: What would it mean to have a big home crowd here? It's a tough ask given that it's fall break, and students head home this weekend, but to have good community support against the Pioneers.
I think is big because we talked about last week, having faith and believing, and I thought our guys did a good job of creating energy for themselves. It's cool to create that energy for yourself, and it's fun. The cool thing is when we are doing that, you don't really realize. We were kind of creating some energy, and all of a sudden, I start hearing metal stands banging behind me, and I look, and the entire crowd is in the game. It changes the entire atmosphere, and it just makes that environment for our kids so much more enthusiastic. They all grew up wanting to play at Tennessee where there's a hundred thousand fans, but whatever stadium you are in, you like to see it packed. I think that as many people we can get out here to cheer these guys on, I think they'll be grateful for it.
